Why Philosophy gets no Respect in Society

There was a time when Philosophy was one of the most respected intellectual disciplines in humanity. Philosophical greats such as Aristotle, Plato & Kant are world renowned today, even centuries after their death. Others like Pythagoras & Newton considered themselves to be natural philosophers, and their contributions to mathematics have made them scientific idols even today. Go to any society around the world, and you will hear of philosophers such as Buddha, Confucius, Adi Shankara & Ibn al-Haytham, who changed the course of entire societies. Even today, every single PhD candidate in any field at all, is awarded the title of Doctor of Philosophy, in recognition of the deep role Philosophy has always played in cultivating new knowledge.

Looking at how Philosophy has fallen so far, it’s time we had a soul searching discussion about why Philosophy is given so little respect by society, and what we can do to remedy this.

Many philosophers seem to take it as self-evident that their field is worthy of respect, and their status as philosophers entitles them to this respect. But before we can assume this, we need to first understand why. In order for any field to have value and be respected by society, it needs to accomplish a few things:

Fulfill a need that society requires

Build up a great deal of expertise, in fulfilling this need

Demonstrate convincingly to a layperson, their superior expertise in fulfilling this need

Let’s take a look at certain professions that have achieved this well.

Doctors

They cure sick people, and save lives

They spend a decade of their life training to be a doctor. They also conduct research clinical trials, studying the efficacy of various medical treatments.

They publish studies, showing the efficacy of medical treatments, and how they are able to improve people’s health. They also conduct studies showing that non-recommended treatments are ineffective in healing diseases. At an anecdotal level, a philosopher trying to perform surgery will result in self-evident disaster. Hence why people trust doctors with all medical decisions.

Computer Engineers

They design computer chips, which people need for all sorts of things

They go to college & learn all the technical aspects of how to design a computer chip. They also do experiments & manufacture real chips to verify that their models are correct.

They build computers that work. The proof is in the pudding. If a philosopher tried to design the next laptop processor, it would not even boot up. Hence why people trust computer engineers to design their Intel chips.

Business Managers

They operate businesses effectively, which is vital in a capitalist society run by businesses

They go to college & earn MBA degrees, learning technical details & case studies of how to run a business effectively

They build up their reputations over time, as effective business leaders & managers. With time, businesses start trusting MBA grads as being effective leaders, and are thus willing to hire and delegate to them to responsibilities of running the business. If a philosopher with poor people skills & no understanding of company financials tried to run a company, profits would start dropping quickly, hence why companies don’t hire non-business-savvy philosophers to run their business.

Philosophers

They ask & answer important questions about how we should live our lives and pursue knowledge

They go to college & earn philosophy degrees

???

And that right there is the problem.

Bullet 1 is itself questionable to a layperson. Many philosophers do indeed wrestle with vitally important questions that do affect our lives. But many others engage in intellectual masturbation that society doesn’t care about, and is not affected by in any way.

But put that aside for a moment, and focus on bullet 3. Because this is where Philosophers lose all respect. How do Philosophers today demonstrate convincingly to society, their expertise in their subject matter? In an ideal world, people will recognize the expertise that philosophers have when it comes to answering moral, ethical and intellectual questions. Hence, they will delegate to philosophers the making of moral decisions & methodologies for the pursuit of knowledge.

In practice, no one ever asks a philosopher for advice. At an individual level, they go to their priests, teachers or parents… and for the most part, they do just fine. At a scientific level, philosophers are hardly ever involved in major scientific research labs, and yet, these labs are making amazing progress. At a societal level, we elect lawyers, business leaders & career politicians into office, and they are the ones making all moral & ethical decisions in public policy… and they too are getting by without any problems. Why do we need philosophers when lawyers like Bill Clinton or actors like Ronald Reagan are doing just fine?

“But wait”, you say. “These guys aren’t doing ‘just fine.’ They would be much better off if they had philosophy training. Our teachers, priests & scientists would also be much better off if they had philosophy training. In fact, everyone would be better off if they had philosophy training, and listened to the advice of us sagely philosophers.”

Well, that’s all well & good, but can you prove it? Can you demonstrate this in a clear & convincing way? Because that’s how the world works. It’s not what you know… it’s not what you may think you know… it’s what you can prove. It’s what you can demonstrate.

I don’t know what form this proof or demonstration will take; perhaps philosophers should be expected to write mainstream books & articles, and engage in current-events debates such as income inequality & immigration reform. Perhaps the standard for excellence in Philosophy should not be publication in academic journals, but rather, thought leadership in mainstream discussions over everyday societal issues. Perhaps philosophers should aim to establish their dominance in newspapers’ opinion & analysis sections, the same way MBAs have established their dominance in corporate governance. This is an entirely different discussion worthy of extensive deliberation by itself.

But if we really think that the study of philosophy can add value to society, it’s time philosophy left its ivory towers, walked away from its silos, and started demonstrating its value to society. To every intellectual from other disciplines. To every layman. Because that’s what separates a profession from a hobby. Because that’s what separates a scientific discipline from intellectual masturbation. If we want philosophy to be taken seriously by society, it’s time to start proving its worth.

38 thoughts on “Why Philosophy gets no Respect in Society”

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I have my B.A. in philosophy, and now I’m studying for my M.A. in English. My background in philosophy has helped me with critical readings and has significantly sharpened my language skills. Since philosophy overlaps with many other areas in the humanities, it’s useful for my masters degree. I’m revisiting Marxism in my Lit. theory class right now. This is only one of many practical applications of philosophy. You can see it in the details. Great intellectuals often engage in philosophical discourse without even realizing it, so it’s easy for them to take it all for granted.

Intellectual masturbation is really funny. Did you cum up with that on your own?

Glad to hear that philosophy helped you sharpen your thinking skills. Personally though, I think philosophy has so much more potential to make a difference in the world, besides simply training its graduates for later life. Imagine a world where medical doctors never saw actual patients, and when asked about it, responded that their degree is still useful because it has helped them in other aspects of their life.

I think philosophy has the potential to help the wider society make better moral decisions, and live better lives, and that it’s not living up to that potential currently. That’s the main thesis of this post.